Process of treating ores.



vE. LANGGUTH.

.PROCESS of TRBATHIG oRBs.

APPLICATION FILED PEBJO, 1912,

ERICH LANGGUTH, F .'hl'lillllPfElLT, BELGUM.

PitOCES 0F TREATING GRES.

Sp tarification or Letters Patent Patented Nov. il, i Mild.

Application filed )February 10, 1912. Serial No. 676,@69.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERICH Lsroonfrrr, a subject of the King of Prussia, and a resi dent of Neerpelt,` in the Province oit' Lini- 5 bourg, Belgium, have invented a new, uscfu1,and improved Process ot Treating Urss, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is' a speci ficationl My invention relates to the treatment ct ores containing lead, silver and zinaores containing lead andv silver and ores contain ing silver. lleretot'ore the processor treat ing such ores by decomposing them" by means 'of chlorid oit zinc, or mixture oii zinc chlorid and allali clilorid, and reducing the resultin lead' chlorid and silver chlorid by means ot ainc-, has been carried out in a single vat or boiler. rlhe 4whole ot the lead obtained as a result of this process had their to be subjected to a'desiiveriaingprocess, .since the silver was naturally distrilnitcd throughout the Whole mass ot' the lead.

` Myl invention is by Way ci an improvement and dcvelo'plnent`oit` the above process and divides the above process into a nurnber of phases or steps. l am thuscnablcd to obtain the silver and the lead separately and to carry on the treatment vas a continuous process instead' ot a periodic or intermittent one and to secure a complete separat-ion ofthe metal from thc molten mass with which the metal is mixed. v

One form of the apparatus ot' myinven tion by the use of which my improved proc-- ese may be practised is shown in the accompanying drawings in Which`- y Figure l 'is a longitudinal section of the apparatus and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the series of decomposing vessels, the supports therefor and other parts being omitted.

The apparatus comprises a plurality oi. decomposing vessels, pots or vets. ln the form `of apparatus illustrated, the vate are three in number and are indicated bythe reerence'characters o, l), and c. The pote are" arranged in tiers, as clearly shown, and are supported suitably in ai furnace A provided with a grate B below the vat a. lll-ach vat is provided with a stirrer or agitator o. driven in any suitable manner, as by the shutting and gearing shown. furthermore provided with an overilow duct f, and a discharge aperture g normally 55 closed by a removable closure pllg. Through the apertures g thc reduced metal Each vat is may be Withdrawn. the sul'iernatant lnoltcn mass may overflow into the next lower yat and linally into thc transportable vessel a?, by means `ot which the mass is carried to the dissolving; device (not shown). The clilorid with wliich the ore`is treated may be introduced into the vat o through the conduit le.

.in practising the process of my invent-ion it has been found. particularly useful and beneficial to employ rats., each having a dividing diaphragm, reaching almost to the bottom of the vat and dividing the latter 'into two parts, a niain compznrtincut and a secondary compartment. Through the sec ondary compartment ot tlievat o, the inoltcn mass is vsupplied to said vat, while through the secondary compartments of vate o and c, the mass .is Withdrawn 'from said rats. The inner wall ot the secondary compertinent has the same convexity or curvature as thcfivall oit the adjacent main com pertinent and its outer similarly shaped vwall merges into the `wall oit the main cornpertinent. Because of the peculiar torina tion of thc Walls oit the secondary comparti ment, they are capable' of withstanding the general Wear and` tear ot' use, including knocks andthe friction or' the solid pieces against the diaphragm during the stirring process so that a long lite thereof is assured.

Furthermore by giving the diapl'iragrn the Through the ducts j" same curvature as the rest of the vat and making; their inner surfaces continuous, l. avoid the lifm-mation of dead l corners, and by constructing the secondary compartment with an outer Wal-l incrginf-r into that of the main con'ipartment, l avoid all pressures and strains in thc un il ot the vat, duc to changes in temperature. The outer Wall of each ci the vais is indicated in the drawings by the reference character i and the diaphragm' by 'the characters".

ln carrying,r out thc process ot' my invention, the orc to be treated, which may con-t tuin silver und loud or silver, .lead and :Zinc in the torio oi' a sullid; is introduced into the vat o in a inciypulverized state und molten zinc chlorid is run in through the conduit- 7c. instead ot zinc chlorid merely it is 'generally preferable to use a mixture of zinc chlo -rid und alkali chlorid, which mixturel may invasori ing that required to satisfy the ehlorin combinedwith the silver7 and then extracting the' lead by means of a metal having a.

king silver and lead, which consists lin tiret treating said ore with Zine chlorid, then extracting the major portion of the silver by means of a small amount of lead, then extracting the remaining silver by means of 4a, small amount of zine and finally extracting the entire amount of lead by means of a suitable amount of zine.

The process oi' treating an ore'containin silver, which consists. in lirst treating said ore with zinc ehlorid7 then extracting the major part of the siiver from 'the inoiten mass by means of a limited qnantityio a metal having a greater affinity for .chlorin than silver has, in proportions approximating that required to satisfy the chlorin c01nbined With the silver, then extracting the remaining, silver and a small part of the lead by the addition of a small amount of zinc, and finally extracting the major pon tion of the lead by the addition of zinc in suiiicient amount to reduce the entire lead content ot' the molten mass'.

6. The process of treating an ore containing silver, which consists in first treating said ore with zinc clliorid, then extracting the major part of the silver from the moiten mass by means of a limited vquantity of a metal havinga greater aiinity for chlorih than silver has, in proportions approximating that required to satisfy the elilorin eo1nbined with the silver, then extracting the remaining silver and a email part oi the lead by the addition of a small amount of eine and employing the silver and lead7 thus obtained, in a. subsequent treatment oit' ore as the means employed for the tiret eatraction oi' siirer.

7. ythe, proeess ot treating an ore contain-- .ing silver and lead, wbiol'i consists in tiret treating said ore with zine cifiorids then tracting the major portion of the silver trom the mass thas produced, in the torni ot an alloy et silver and lead by' means et a small amount et lead. then extracting; the remaining silver in the forni of a sliver lead alloy by means of a, small amount of zinc,

then, extracting 'the lead, by means cita snit icient amount of eine and utilizing the eee 0nd silver-lead alloy above mentioned in the extraction of the major portion of' silver in a subsequent treatment ot' ore similar to that above described. f

'8. The process ot treating an ore contain ing silverand lead, which consists in .tiret treating said ore with Zinc eliiorid, then eritracting the silver, in two successive steps, the first by means oi a .smallainonnt et lead including that of the siirerdeai a ioy resultiug from the second Siiwer extraction step of, a prior treatment ore; and resulting in the removal ot' the major portion of thesilver in the torni of an alloy with small amount of lead, and the almond by means of a small amount ot zinc and reeniting in the removalof the remaining silver also in the form of an aiioy with a Sinai] amount of lead, and inlaliy extracting .he lead by means of a sntiicient amount oit zinc.

in testimony whereofL i have hereunto set my hand in the presence oi two subscribing Witnesses., 

